As you might already know I am a big fan of simple, straightforward cooking. I suffer from hangryness you see and when I get home on a busy weekday evening I want something full of flavour that can be rustled up in no time at all. So welcome my Sticky Chicken Skewers into your kitchen. They take just minutes to prepare and the whole meal (including potatoes and tomato salad) is on the table in well under 30 minutes. Just because it’s quick cooking

The elderflowers are here and it is the best time of year. If I was more of a poet I’d have come up with a second line to go with that. I’ve been shoving elderflowers into various different things for years: cordial, gin, crumble and sugar to name a few. I wanted to try something a little different, and a bit less time consuming this time round, to get that wonderful elderflower fragrance down my neck as soon as I could. A celebration of late

Chard has such a fantastic earthy flavour and I love using it in all sorts of dishes. I used Swiss chard for this recipe but the rainbow variety would work just as well and look fantastic. My Sticky Soy Chard came about because I wanted to treat the chard exactly as I would treat bok choi; covering it in a savoury, sticky glaze. The chard plant itself does have a habit of getting a bit of mud stuck in the leaves so make sure you give it a good wash

I made my quince gin as a way to use some of those delicious fuzzy fruits that grow in the garden. The gin has come out a wonderful, pale canary yellow colour and makes a divine gin and tonic. It is in fact so delicious that it deserved a mix up of its own, something to complement the quince’s distinctive flavour. I love using herbs in drinks and puddings and I wanted to add a botanical twang to this drink. A Lime, Thyme and Quince Gin Cocktail

I've toyed with the idea of making an agua fresca for a little while. What with the focus on Brazil and South America at the moment with the Olympics I have seen a few frescas popping up on menus. But I wondered, is it worth the effort, isn't it just easier to squeeze a bit of fruit then water it down? Well yes, but it turns out it's just not the same. And the (what might seem an unnecessary step but take my word for it it's definitely needed) sieving

The idea of smoothies and juices I really like; getting the nutrients (with or without the fibrous parts) in a convenient way really appeals. Not least because it gives me something to do with a fridge full of vegetables other than soup. The only thing that puts me off is the thought I needed another piece of kitchen equipment to be able to make my own. The publishers of Crussh, Nourish Books, got in touch to see if I'd like to try out the new book.

As it's Mother's Day soon there are many things to consider: will it be flowers, chocolates, something else or a simple card. My Mum isn't picky or fussy and would be just as happy with a few daffodils as a full blown Mother's Day themed weekend. So really, as our lives both revolve around feeding us and other people, I think the real decision is whether to eat out somewhere or eat in?
Both have their merits. Having lunch at a restaurant means

It's February, apologies for stating the obvious. To me, February is the interim month; not as fresh as January when I'm enthusiastic about the New Year and not as good as March when you know that spring has pretty much arrived. So as far as I'm concerned February needs a bit of brightening up to get us all through the cold, grey days. That help can come in many forms; in this case coconut and lime biscuits. This particular flavour combination can

If I had to choose I reckon I would choose a lime over a lemon anytime. They just seem a bit more special somehow. I've seen plenty of recipes for homemade lemonade but not that many for homemade limeade. I actually ended up using a mixture of lemon and lime juice to make this, mostly because I ran out of limes. If you give your limes a quick blast in the microwave before squeezing them you'll get much more juice out than if you squeeze them cold.

I'm often a bit slow on the uptake. Pulled food, more specifically pulled pork, has been doing the rounds for some time now and it's not something that I had attempted. Yet. I wanted to make an Asian coleslaw that used some spring carrots (I demoed this at Eat Reading Live) but wasn't too sure what to serve it with. It seemed an ideal time to attempt some sort of pulled pork. If, like me, you can't be bothered with pulling anything I think this would